Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Remain Down as Allergan Continues to Fall

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.87 percent to 14,710.49 while the NASDAQ declined 0.83 percent to 3,301.88. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.87 percent to 1,583.04.

The S&P 500 is stalling once again, hitting its 1,597 highs with 1,575 acting as support below that. Next up, the Dow is stalling under its 14,850 resistance after it found support at 14,750. The NASDAQ is breaking out over its 3,320 resistance which could now act as support, with 3,300 as support below that. Finally, the Russell is heading upwards into its 950 resistance while 930 acts as support below.

MasterCard

reported a rise in its first-quarter net income. MasterCard's quarterly profit surged to $766 million, or $6.23 per share, versus $682 million, or $5.36 per share, in the year-ago period. Its revenue climbed 8% to $1.9 billion from $1.76 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $6.18 per share on revenue of $1.93 billion. MasterCard's processed transactions rose 12% to 8.7 billion.

Bankrate

shot up 15.65 percent to $15.59 after the company reported upbeat Q1 profit. Shares of Mueller Water Products

got a boost, rising early in the day, but settling later on, remaining up 10.98 percent to $6.57 after the company reported strong FQ2 results, but the conference call caused the stock to let out some air. Sonus Networks

was also up, gaining 14.29 percent to $2.40 on Q1 results.

Regal Beloit

continued its fall, down 19.55 percent to $63.25 on weak first quarter results and awful guidance. Shares of Allergan

plummeted from the open, dropping 11.40 percent to $100.61 after the company announced it would be delaying a study on its eye drug. Solarwinds

also took a beating, falling 13.37 percent to $44.05 after missing by a large margin on the top line this morning.

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.47 percent to $91.15, while gold traded down 1.41 percent to $1,451.80. Silver traded down 1.43 percent Wednesday to $23.84, while copper fell 3.37 percent to $3.08.

European markets were mostly closed for the May Day holiday, with all major markets save for the U.K. closed. The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.15 percent following the better than expected manufacturing PMI in the U.K.

The US economy gained 119,000 jobs in April, according to the Automatic Data Processing Inc. However, economists were projecting the economy to add 150,000 private-payroll jobs versus an original estimate of 158,000 in March. Mortgage applications in the US gained 1.8% in the ended April 26, versus a 0.2% rise in the earlier week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported. The final reading of Markit's manufacturing PMI declined to 52.1 in April, versus 54.6 in March and compared to the flash estimate of 52.0 in April. The ISM manufacturing index fell to 50.70 in March, versus a prior reading of 51.30. However, economists were expecting a reading of 50.50. Construction spending fell 1.70% in March, versus a 1.20% rise in February. Crude supplies surged 6.7 million barrels for the week ended April 26, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were projecting a 1.4 million-barrel rise. The FOMC will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.